This is an archive article published on August 8, 2025
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US doubles reward for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s arrest to $50m
The US has accused Nicolas Maduro of having direct links with crime syndicates Tren de Aragua, Cartel of the Suns and the notorious Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks to supporters on his inauguration day for a third term at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (AP)
Written by:Express Web Desk
3 min readAug 8, 2025 01:24 PM IST
First published on: Aug 8, 2025 at 01:24 PM IST
The United States has doubled the reward announced for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to $50 million. US Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday announced the ‘historic increase’ in reward money for arrest of Maduro, who is accused of being “one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world”.
‘Maduro will be held accountable’
“He is one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world and a threat to our national security. Therefore, we doubled his reward to $50 million,” Bondi said in a video posted on X.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, Maduro will not escape justice, and he will be held accountable for his despicable crimes,” she added.
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) August 7, 2025
Maduro vs US
63-year-old Maduro who has been the President of Venezuela since 2013, has had a hostile relationship with the US, which worsened further under the Trump administration.
Maduro, who began his career as a bus driver and then a trade union leader, was the handpicked successor of former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who passed away in March 2013.
He has been accused of rigging the elections in Venezuela to stay in power and silencing dissent.
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During the first Trump presidency, the US Department of Justice had accused Maduro of working with the Colombian rebel group FARC to ‘flood the US with cocaine’.
‘Seized 30 tons of cocaine linked to Maduro’
The US has accused Maduro of having direct links with crime syndicates Tren de Aragua, Cartel of the Suns and the notorious Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico, which are involved in drug trafficking and other organised crimes.
According to Bondi, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) had “seized 30 tons of cocaine linked to Maduro and his associates, with nearly seven tons linked to Maduro himself”.
Not surprised: Venezuelan minister
Reacting to the US doubling the reward money on Maduro, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said the move did not come as a surprise and claimed that it was an attempt to create a distraction from the Epstein files controversy.
“It does not surprise us, coming from who it comes from. The same one who promised a non-existent ‘secret list’ of Epstein and who wallows in scandals of political favours,” he said in a post on Telegram.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks to supporters on his inauguration day for a third term at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (AP) 
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